Teen Books about Poverty and HomelessnessLike this list

12 items

• With the Fire on High

  Acevedo, Elizabeth

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  Emoni’s natural talent for cooking gets challenged when she signs up for a Spanish cooking class in her senior year of high school. She dreams of working in a real restaurant, but how can she afford to chase her dream and take care of her daughter…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• No Known Address

  Barwin, Steven

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  Despite coming from a well-off family, Tyler spends his life couch surfing to avoid his father’s abuse. As his friends’ families stop letting him stay over, he struggles to figure out a safe place to live.

• The Ballad of Dinah Caldwell

  Brauning, Kate

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  Dinah Caldwell lives on the knife’s edge between survival and death on their farm — right up until the richest man in the county murders her mother. Having lost home and family, she’s determined to get revenge.

• The Hollow Inside

  Davis, Brooke Lauren,

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  Phoenix has lived in a van most of her life, helping her adoptive mother, Nina, steal whatever they need to get by. When Nina decides their next target is a local celebrity, Phoenix gets caught spying on him — and discovers Nina’s motives are far…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Golden Arm

  Deuker, Carl,

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  Laz Weathers has one hope to get out of his Seattle trailer park and take care of his family — and that’s baseball. When he gets a chance to attend a ritzy high school, it means choosing between his sports dream and the realities of his home life.

• More Than Money

  How Economic Inequality Affects Everything

  Dyer, Hadley,

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  Whether you’re rich, poor, or somewhere in between, economic inequality has left its mark on your neighborhood, your school, and even your health. Find out how — and how you can help improve life for people at every income level — in this book.

• My Good Man

  Gansworth, Eric, 1965-

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  When a mysterious assault lands the brother of his mother's late boyfriend in the hospital, Brian, a twenty-something Indigenous reporter, must pick up the threads of a life he's abandoned, returning to the Tuscarora Reservation to discover the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Getaway

  Giles, Lamar, 1979-

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  Jay and his family are live-in employees at an isolated amusement park for billionaires — and now that the rest of the world is being destroyed by extreme weather, those billionaires aren’t leaving. Perfect for fans of Jordan Peele’s movies, The…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Life and (medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly

  Pacton, Jamie,

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  Kit Sweetly is a high school senior and a serving wench at the local Medieval Times restaurant, but what she really wants to be is a knight. Since corporate policy says girls can’t joust, Kit’s going to prove them wrong. Readers will delight in the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• What's Coming to Me

  Padilla, Francesca,

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  Minerva’s boss is a creep, her mother’s health issues have left their family penniless, and her best friend might hate her. The only thing left is to try and find a secret treasure that’s supposedly hidden somewhere on the property at work.

• They Better Call Me Sugar

  My Journey From the Hood to the Hardwood

  Rodgers, Sugar, 1989-

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  Sugar Rodgers grew up poor but loved in Suffolk, Virginia, and grew up to be a WNBA star — but getting from one place to the other took hard work. Get the full story in her memoir.

• Where I Live

  Rufener, Brenda,

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  Linden’s a homeless girl in plain sight, careful to make sure no one realizes she lives at her high school. When she discovers a classmate’s dark secret, she has to decide whether she can give up her own untold truths to help.